I have never questioned the possibility of a person temporarily dying physically and reporting what they saw in Heaven. My view is that the Lord, the Creator of all things, can do what He desires. I do not broadly accept all such accounts because of human nature. Some people simply want to be the center of attention.
I was not aware that over several decades numerous studies have been done by Believers as well as by academics who do not believe. There have been literally thousands of reported cases of “Near Death Experiences” or NDEs. The interesting part is that some of these are reports by persons who have nothing to gain and more to lose because of their professional standing.
Even more fascinating are descriptions by persons who have been blind since birth. You see, skeptics like to declare that what such persons see is the chemical result of their brain shutting down, and it comes from memory. But blind people have no such reference, and yet they describe the operating room in which their bodies lie or things which they have never seen before.
John Burke, a Christian pastor, wrote Imagine Heaven in 2015. I just read it and found it to be both interesting and encouraging. Brother Burke draws from interviews done by others previously, and from interviews he conducted. The interviews were from people of all religions or no religion, he did not just talk to Christians. Not everyone responded to these experiences in the same way, for we are all given the freedom of choice. Also of interest is the fact that many said they saw Hell, but did not volunteer the information out of shame, or guilt, until they were specifically asked.
The common references found in so many interviews are interesting. People report being overwhelmed by the feeling of love. They do not want to return to this life. Not all report meeting Jesus or the Lord, but those who do say that they were not condemned for their obvious sins (for we all have sinned) but rather were asked, “What have you done with the Life I have given you?”
Brother Burke ties much of what he reports to Scripture, and analyzes many of the NDEs. I am not a literary critic and I do not do book reviews. This is not a review of Imagine Heaven. There may be better books available on this subject, but it encouraged me and gave me perhaps a better insight of our Heavenly Father. I feel safe in suggesting that you read the book.
If you search online, I am sure it is available. I bought mine through Thriftbooks.com, an online used book seller. My copy is unmarked and looks like new. But the content of the book is what is important, even if it has coffee stains on the cover.
If you choose to read Imagine Heaven, I hope you will be blessed and encouraged as I was.
Ron Taylor